7 of my favorite Ghana blogs

Every so often (don't u love Ghana English?), I get emails from friends, and sometimes even people I don't know asking me for links to other Ghana blogs. In my email response, I send them a link or two, and also point them to Ghana Bloggers. Usually I find myself fighting back the urge to add a caveat like well uh...actually, don't get your hopes up.

Ouch!

How would I feel if someone said that about my blog. Not good. But we're not talking about feel good stuff right now. I think we can get so much better but unless we objectively assess and realise that generally we kiiiinda suck, we'll never push ourselves to rise above present standard. My personal goal is to get my writing to this level. I don't think Ghana bloggers are there yet. My thoughts on this crystalized about 2 weeks ago when my boss asked me what my favorite blog is, and I blurted out, without having to think, "Her name is Dr. Weems." Her blog is called Something Within. It's written by a Reverend minister. Yeah, yeah, I know! Who would have thought that Ms. Esi here who has once again veered away from the Godly path, reads a blog which is chiefly about faith and African-Americans? But the reasons I love Dr. Weems' blog are a) quality of the writing, b) she has a voice (read opinion), c) the content is always relevant. And best of all, d) she always gets me to think. For all these reasons, even though my favorite topic to read about right now is Ghana, and she has never written about Ghana or Ghanaians, still I find myself regularly checking out her blog.

Who can fault me for not digging Ghana blogs?

So yeah. Ghana bloggers, myself inclusive need to step it up. But we also need the right kind of readers. Active readers. Active participants. Because the spirit of a blog depends not only on the voice behind the blog but also on the kinds of conversations and community a reader engages with when s/he visits that blog. I was discussing with a friend about how when I read NYTimes blogs, I sometimes learn more from the comments than from the articles. And I keep going back because the conversations can go on for days; they're enlightening; they're brilliant and they challenge me.

That said, there are good Ghana blogs out there. Some I know about. Others I hope to discover with your help. Here are 7 of my favorites. Some bigger blogs are not on this list. It's not because I think they suck. Some of them are actually really good. But these are the ones I like to read and this is what I think about them.

1. Illuminated
What shall I say? Illuminated is everything that a blog should be. I scoff at bloggers who think their lives are so interesting that the world would care to read their personal diaries. But what is a blog without personal anecdotes, and opinion? The voice behind Illuminated achieves that blend of the personal with the general, and consistently makes her opinions (and she has many) known without being preachy-something I personally struggle with. I just wish more people knew about this blog because I think comments from active readers could easily make this one of the widest read blogs. At least I think it should be. It's a shame that the writer seems to be one of those who blog for sheege (tr: kicks) and does little to nothing to point people to her blog. But hey, maybe if you're that good, one reader will tell another reader...

2. Motherhood: Learning on the job
Unlike koranteng's Toli and Illuminated (two of the blogs which made my list), this blog is written by a Ghanaian living in Ghana. The writer is a Ghanaian mother who writes about motherhood and her kids. Did i hear an eeek? Yeah, that's what I would've said too. But I'm happy to report that even though she talks about the kind of candid, aww-inspiring, cutesy stuff only married people get to do, what you get is sensible, honest, straight talk, and in beautiful language too. We're spared the random ramblings that we've cometo associate with mom blogs.

3. Koranteng's Toli
I love love love this blog. Detailed, well written, informative, smart, and in blonde girl speak, totally rad! Of all the Ghana blogs I read, Koranteng's strikes me as the best-researched. So it's the kind of thing you want more of, but that's where Koranteng fails. The blog is updated with the regularity of water flow in Ashale-Botwe; it takes so long that you give up expecting it. I'm going to cut Koranteng a little bit of slack because he's one of the few bloggers who actually delivers on exactly the kind of content I value and also because good articles take time to research and write. Still, I think Koranteng can do better. His last entry was posted on March 18...that's too damn long to have readers checking back.

4. Famosfreddy
What kind of person names herself famosfreddy before she actually becomes famous? You've got to hand it to her. She's got balls, that famos freddie. Unusual name for a Ghana blog, certainly. I like that. And I can't deny that when Freddy describes her writing as witty and fun, she 's not too far from the mark. So really, Famosfreddy wouldn't be on this list, except...she seems to have fallen off the face of the earth! I left a comment on her blog a couple of days ago and she responded so we know she isn't err what's the word? indisposed? So famosfreddy just needs to do what gets people famous - besting their acts over and over.


5. Adventures from the bedrooms of African women
It's about sex, and love, and relationships. It's about African women and the women who love them (how about a world which isn't heteronormative?). Okay, men too :) The blog is great for plain talk, and the many anonymous comments which detail everything from sexual fantasies to err...whether they'd take std tests. I wish the writing wouldn't differ so obviously from one day to next but maybe that sort of thing is unavoidable when a blog is written by more than one person.


6. Anti-Rhythm
What does anti-rhythm mean? Different. Alternative? Against rhythm? Maybe. So you check the blog. And there are days when the writing is brilliant. But there are also days when you read three sentences in a row and still don't know what the writer is getting at. So being of the old-fashioned view that if the reader does not understand what the writer is trying to communicate, the writer has failed, I have not yet fallen in love with this blog. I love stories so I'd appreciate more stories and less word-smithing. Still I think it has oodles and oodles of potential because as I said, there are days when it's pure delight. And because it's updated so regularly, there's always something to read here when everyone else fails. Also, people who love poems seem to like it so you just have to make up your own mind about this one.

7. Nana Kofi Acquah

A photoblog. The only Ghana photoblogger I know. If you know any more, tell us. Just because he's the only one doing what he's doing, I think he deserves mention. I like this blog best when the photos are supported by stories. Also, he took my profile photo!

End of list.


I welcome you to share your personal favorites with us in the comments section.

Alright, gotta run. My coworkers are rapping. And i've gotta go represent. Spit some game, ya know what I mean? No i'm not kidding. I work at the funnest place on earth.

But before I run off, what are your favorite Ghana blogs, and why do you like 'em so? Help us discover where the action is. And if you have a Ghana blog, and think we should know about it, post a link in the comments section, and we'll come check it out.

ps: There are some promising new Ghana blogs and I plan to do a post on top 10 new blogs soon so let me know if there's a new blog you like.